Bruce Brown, Legendary Director of The Endless Summer, Has Died

Bruce Brown, legendary director of The Endless Summer and father of the modern surf film, has died aged 80, passing away peacefully in Santa Barbara.

For many of us, The Endless Summer and its sequel, The Endless Summer II opened the door to the realms of what it meant to be a surfer/adventurer, seeking the chase.

Recently, The Endless Summer was immortalised in a 50th anniversary book, featuring artwork and images from the production of the film.

Bruce in action.

It's not surprising that the film remained relevant. Surf movies of the 60s were vapid and Bruce was spurred to break the formulaic mould, taking a sideways glance at what had been done before, hurling it all out – in favour of a more fluid, humour flecked tale of wanderlust, wrapped up in the philosophy to make any session engaging.

Bruce was born in San Francisco in 1937. He moved with his family to Long Beach at 10-years-old which is where he took up surfing. Speaking to Magicseaweed in March of this year, Bruce reflected on his career and the shift in the industry over the past five decades.

He said: “We wanted to make a great film, and to be honest, we wanted to find some great surf spots along the way, a few places that we had heard of and ultimately some amazing places that were new to us and to the world. We knew that from a few of my earlier films, the kids loved it.

“They loved everything about it; beaches, waves, sunshine and girls. That’s not much vision since almost every teenage kid and young 20-year-old all wanted just about the same thing. We just had a chance to share it with them visually. And they loved it more than we could have ever imagined.”